My week in Provence

[Thorn]

Thanks for the posting your trip report....I smiled, chuckled and read portions outloud to DH....brought back memories of France. I loved the cycling and, alas, trying to communicate vegetarian to the French was all you described it to be. Loved your tales. Such fun.

To digress, oddly, some of the best and some of the worst vegetarian food we've had was in France. In one case, we had a hotel that included dinner. When we checked in, we made sure that the message that we were vegetarian, no fish, was in the reservation. It was. When we got to the restaurant, we verified when we were seated. It was. The first course arrived. Clams. When we explained we were vegetarian and did not eat fish, the waiter did the stereotypical french waiter hrrrmmpph and muttered, in French, "they are not fish, they are crustaceans". Dinner that night was the most pitiful mushroom omelet. I swear the mushrooms came out of can.

But, the next day, we found a restaurant in a town of 10 houses, a school and the restaurant. The chef came out with the most beautiful fresh woodland mushrooms. He told us how he wanted to cook them up with a beef cut. When we told him we were vegetarian. He paused for moment then said, "I can do something." 30 minutes later we were eating the most decedant mushroom cream sauce over freshly made pasta I've ever eaten. All bad memories from the previous night were converted into something we could laugh over now.

Some get it; some don't. Glad you found enough that do. But, as you say, one must always taste the local vintages!

Thanks again for the report...

[Trekhawk]

Great report Kim. Love the pics.

[SadieKate]

Oh no! Everyone, sauf moi, has found this and laughed their way onto the floor, sans vin. I am so disappointed you didn't take my advice of finding that perfect little dinner outfit about 2 sizes too small. I was just waiting to hear about your mom's reaction.

I have to go look at all the pictures now. Are they as funny as the story?

Did you learn any good whines in French?

[aka_kim]

I only know how to whine in French about the weather, but I'll work on it.

What is with the 2 sizes too small thing? Major butt crack and camel toe sightings everywhere you looked.

[SadieKate]

Fashion capitol of the world, eh? How about muffin tops?

[kelownagirl]

Great report Kim, I laughed all the way through it and I enjoyed your pictures too!

Your report is so timely for me right now. DH and I are planning our trip to France (in July). We're can't afford a bike tour, but are looking into renting bikes for 5-6 days and doing our own trip in the area you toured. We're looking for easy - medium riding so we can enjoy the countryside. Hope to stay in small hotels or B&B's along the way and carry what we need in panniers (storing our suitcase at the airport.) Haven't got the details nailed down yet so if you have any advice, please PM me.

Later we're hoping to rent road bikes for one day and climb Alpe D'huez. Got any suggestions on that? I'm been doing a bit of surfing to find a place that rents road bikes for one day only...

[aka_kim]

Wow kelownagirl, that sounds like fun, can I come too? (Two weeks away and I already miss it!)

We never really veered from the tour maps and that one small area of Provence - all of which is easy/moderate riding. I can scan and send my trips maps if you'd like. I never saw a bike shop, and the places we stayed are too spendy. It will definitely be a fun area to explore on your own!

[bikerbarb]

I appreciated your travel report very much. It is exactly what I thought the high end tour would be like.

I've been tussling with my husband for weeks over my desire to avoid a tour and bike in France independently with my 18 year old daughter. He'd like us to sign up for a Backroads tour, which is a lovely high end operation. I was going nuts trying to comb through all the tour companies and bike rental companies to find what I wanted.

I'm going through the hassle of bringing 2 bikes on the plane with me (my daughter is currently living in Geneva, Switzerland) because I couldn't find bikes to rent that I was confident I'd want to be on for a week. I'm using tour books and bringing panniers and planning to stay in little b&b's as I don't want amazing hotels and huge meals. We're also planning to bike 50 - 70 miles/day, and most tours have 20 - 30. We're going to the Burgundy region (Lyon or Dijon as starting/ending point) in late June/early July as it is a little less known, beautiful countryside with rolling hills and during those times Provence and the Loire Valley will be full of tourists. We're also planning to ride around Lake Geneva.

Now I'm feeling more confident I'm on the right track. My only worry right now is how the heck I'm going to manage pulling two bike cases through the airport along with my suitcase!

[maillotpois]

Bikerbarb - I don't want to complicate your decision making, but you should know that some of the Backroads trips have longer options than 20 - 30 miles a day. We did an "epic" Tour de France trip a few years ago and it was great. Riding was up to 70 - 80 miles a day and hard. I think even if the "planned" rides are shorter than you want, the guides can also always give you suggestions for a longer ride. One of the guys on our tour had done an easy trip the year before and was able to get in a lot more riding than advertised.

I do think doing it on your own wuld be fantastic, though. You have the independence to stop anywhere you want, turn down any road that looks interesting. If you have the equipment to do it, I would do it self supported.

The logistics of the bike boxes is always the tough thing!

Have fun. I So wish we were going again this year. Maybe next year.